Buy a copy of CONTROL!

Wednesday, June 29, 2011

Summer Reading: Retellings

My summer reading journey continues. This week I'm finishing up The Graveyard Book, by Neil Gaiman. He also wrote Coraline, which I finished a few weeks ago. Here's the blurb:

The Graveyard Book is the story of Nobody Owens (called "Bod" for short). At the start of the story, Bod is a toddler who witnesses the murder of his family by a mysterious man known as "Jack". Bod escapes from the family home before the murderer reaches him and stumbles into a nearby graveyard where the resident ghosts and other supernatural creatures "adopt" him and protect him from the evil Jack and his associates who continue to hunt for Bod.

I confess that the ghoulish take on The Jungle Book was intriguing. Have you read any retellings lately that you enjoyed?

47
comments:

I read The Graveyard Book last fall and was quite intrigued with the unique premise. I'm laughing now that I know it's a take on The Jungle Book. It must be true - there really are no new stories in the world, just rewritten ones. It's the writer that makes it new.

Right now I'm reading Entwined by Heather Dixon which is a retelling of The Twelve Dancing Princesses and so far I'm liking it. My favorite retelling of all time though is Beauty by Robin McKinley. I haven't read any of Neil Gaiman's stuff, but this book sounds kind of fun. I might have to try it.

I'm a major Neil Gaiman fan! He's incredibly creative and talented, and writes for both children and adults (he recently wrote an episode for Dr. Who if you're into that). I loved both Coraline and The Graveyard Book.

Last summer I very quickly read through Coraline at the library, but haven't read The Graveyard Book. And unless the books specifically mentions its a retelling, I don't always catch on (or haven't read the original). erica

Oooh that sounds awesomely spooky :) I haven't read any good retellings lately but I have a few on my TBR list. There's been a lot of Little Red Riding Hoods lately. Personally I prefer retellings of myths. There's one of my list that the retelling of Persephone's story. SO excited to read it!

We used to have retelling books in English class in elementary school and jr high, so-called "easy readers", simplified versions of the Jungle Book, Robin Hood and Tom Sawyer with a vocabulary limited to 500 or 1000 words. I never liked them, preferred to read the original versions, and rather use the dictionary from time to time >:)

Medical Disclaimer

IN NO WAY SHOULD THE CONTENTS OF LYDIAKANG.BLOGSPOT.COM BE CONSIDERED MEDICAL ADVICE. ALL CONTENT ON THE SITE IS GENERAL IN NATURE, AND PROVIDED FOR FICTIONAL SCENARIOS ONLY. NEVER DISREGARD MEDICAL ADVICE OR DELAY IN SEEKING IT BECAUSE OF SOMETHING YOU HAVE READ OR MAYBE MIS-INTERPRETED ON THIS WEBSITE, OR ANY LINKS RELATED TO IT.

The materials provided on this site are for informational purposes and are not intended for use as diagnosis or treatment of a health problem or as a substitute for consulting a licensed medical professional.

Check with a physician if you suspect you are ill, or believe you may have one of the problems discussed on this website, as many problems and disease states may be serious and even life-threatening.

Also note that medical information changes rapidly. Therefore, some information may be out of date, inaccurate, or erroneous. Neither this blog/website or it author(s) will be responsible for the results or consequences of any attempt to use or adopt any of the information presented on this website.